Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to medical implants such as punctal occluders or the like, and, more specifically, to systems including both medical implants and medical implant insertion instruments.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Various small medical implants such as myringotomy tubes, punctal occluders (punctum plugs), and the like are often sold pre-loaded on disposable insertion instruments as a sterile unit or kit. Such practices save implantation time and insure that the implants are offered for implantation in a sterile condition.
Punctal occlusion is becoming the most accepted clinical treatment for dry eye and related conditions. Today, all known suppliers of punctal occluders (punctum plugs) sell their plugs pre-loaded on insertion instruments as a sterile unit or kit (one sterile insertion instrument per sterile punctum plug). When the insertion of the plug is complete, the entire insertion instrument is immediately discarded. Unfortunately, this results in the majority of the purchase price of the punctum plug kit being discarded. This wasteful disposal of the entire insertion instrument has resulted in an artificially high delivery cost of punctal occlusion, a very inefficient use of valuable resources and a very unfortunate contribution to non-degradable waste in our environment.
A preliminary patentability search conducted in class 606, subclasses 108, 109, 185 and 191 produced the following patents which appear to be relevant to the present invention:
Akiyama, U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,258, issued Jun. 10, 1975, discloses an apparatus for introducing a drain for the eardrum.
Garnett et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,786, issued Aug. 5, 1975, discloses a disposable apparatus for inserting a myringotomy tube.
Walchle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,584, issued Oct. 21, 1975, discloses an otological vent tube inserter.
Darnell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,073, issued Sep. 25, 1984, discloses a myringotomy tube inserter.
Leigh, U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,701, issued Dec. 22, 1992, discloses a single use biopsy device.
Arick, U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,323, issued Oct. 28, 1997, discloses a cricothyrotomy. tube insertion device.
Mendius, U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,292, issued Apr. 21, 1998, discloses a punctum plug inserting instrument.
Wallace, U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,171, issued Nov. 3, 1998, discloses a punctal occluder.
Richter et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,697, issued Feb. 9, 1999, discloses an intraocular implant and delivery device.
Nothing in the known prior art discloses or suggests the present invention. More specifically, nothing in the known prior art discloses or suggests a medical implant insertion system with a medical implant cartridge including a medical implant, a head having a first end and a second end, and a pin slidably extending through the head, the pin having a first end and a second end, the first end of the pin being located adjacent the first end of the head and being removably attached to the medical implant; the second end of the pin being positioned adjacent the second end of the head; and with a medical implant insertion instrument including a handle for removable attachment to the second end of the head of the medical implant cartridge, collet means for attachment to the second end of the pin of the medical implant cartridge when the handle is attached to the second end of the head of the medical implant cartridge, and actuator means for causing the medical implant to detach from the pin of the medical implant cartridge.
The present invention provides a medical implant insertion system. A basic concept of the present invention is to provide a medical implant insertion system that consist, in general, of two components, a high quality reusable insertion instrument and a sterile, single use, pre-loaded cartridge.
The medical implant insertion system of the present invention comprises, in general, a medical implant cartridge including a medical implant, a head having a first end and a second end, and a pin slidably extending through the head, the pin having a first end located adjacent the first end of the head and removably attached to the medical implant, and having a second end positioned adjacent the second end of the head; and a medical implant insertion instrument including a handle for removable attachment to the second end of the head of the medical implant cartridge, collet means for attachment to the second end of the pin of the medical implant cartridge when the handle is attached to the second end of the head of the medical implant cartridge, and actuator means for causing the medical implant to detach from the pin of the medical implant cartridge.
One object of the present invention is to provide an economical, yet precise system for the delivery punctal occluders and the like.